Police arrest man over arson at Tel Aviv hostage display

A man has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a display that has been constructed in a show of support for the hostages held in Gaza.

The Kan public broadcaster says dolls representing the hostages were set alight on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street.

Police say a 35-year-old man from Herzliya has been detained and taken for questioning.

It is believed that 132 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November.

Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 28 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.